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Updated: Jul 18, 2026
Mouse Fetal Liver Culture System to Dissect Target Gene Functions at the Early and Late Stages of Terminal Erythropoiesis
Published on: September 9, 2014
Requirement of DNase II for definitive erythropoiesis in the mouse fetal liver
K Kawane1, H Fukuyama, G Kondoh
1Department of Genetics, Osaka University Medical School, and Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
Abstract:
Mature erythrocytes in mammals have no nuclei, although they differentiate from nucleated precursor cells. The mechanism by which enucleation occurs is not well understood. Here we show that deoxyribonuclease II (DNase II) is indispensable for definitive erythropoiesis in mouse fetal liver. No live DNase II-null mice were born, owing to severe anemia. When mutant fetal liver cells were transferred into lethally irradiated wild-type mice, mature red blood cells were generated from the mutant cells, suggesting that DNase II functions in a non-cell-autonomous manner. Histochemical analyses indicated that the critical cellular sources of DNase II are macrophages present at the site of definitive erythropoiesis in the fetal liver. Thus, DNase II in macrophages appears to be responsible for destroying the nuclear DNA expelled from erythroid precursor cells.
